Pongal is a famous tiffin item in South India. It is usually made of rice and moong daal in a pressure cooker with appropriate seasonings. I mostly make it with rice the traditional way, on occasions I make it with rava (Rava Pongal) but this time I made this Spicy Pongal using broken wheat/dalia.

I had a packet of broken wheat lying in the pantry for a long time and was looking for ways of using it. I have tried some kheer with it before, but have not used it much in regular cooking. After looking around on the web, I decided to make this Khichidi/Pongal.

I love the texture of cooked broken wheat in this spicy khichidi. Even though it is soft, you can feel its mild presence while eating it. Also it does not hurt that dalia is better in nutrients compared to rice. Taste wise there is no difference compared to the rice based khichidi/pongal.

This is a comfort in a bowl especially during cold wintery days. I enjoy eating this eating with lemon pickle, pappads and some raita.

Ingredients

¾ cup broken wheat/dalia

½ cup split moong daal

3-4 green chillies (finely chopped)

2 red chillies (broken into 3 pieces)

5-10 whole black peppercorn [you can add powder if you do not like it whole]

1 tsp grated ginger

1 tsp cumin seeds/jeera

5-10 curry leaves

¼ cup grated coconut (optional)

1 tsp mustard seeds

1 Tbsp ghee

pinch of hing/asafetida

1 Tbsp chopped coriander leaves

Oil

Salt to taste

Method:

Pressure cook the moong daal, along with the broken wheat in 2 cups of water. Keep aside.

Take a big pan and heat 1 Tbsp of oil/ghee. Add the mustard seeds, cumin seeds and let it splutter.

Add the curry leaves, broken red chillies, hing/asafetida, pepper corns and green chillies and fry for for few seconds.

Add the cooked daal-dalia to this, salt, ginger and keep stirring.

Cover it with a lid and it cook for a minute for two. Garnish with chopped coriander, coconut and 1 tsp ghee and switch off the gas.

Ghee imparts a wonderful aroma to the dish. Serve Hot along with lemon pickle, raita, pappads.